In a bold and novel venture into conceptual photography, Jill Frank has persuaded her subjects to re-enact traumatic moments from their pasts, approximating as far as possible the scenes in which they occurred, and then shooting the “psychodramas” in deep clear color. As we all know, moments of extreme emotional or physical pain, and fear can wound a life thereafter, and Frank and her subjects show us how that happens effectively and accurately, with no ironic distance and a refreshing absence of excess. Choose your trauma. Frank will show you bullying torture, sadistic adult control, animals on the loose, aggression with the camera and any number of ways that people visit evil on others in an already adverse world. Frank is to be congratulated for bringing it home to us that the glass is often nearly empty, and her subjects are to be honored for their courage and considerable and credible performances. (Michael Weinstein)
Through November 1 at Golden Gallery, 816 W. Newport, (773)559-5850
Lost in Translation: A Review of Crip* at Gallery 400 The strongest works in the exhibition succinctly express the ways the artist relates to their own body while calling out how the artist’s body and body of work has been perceived or coded against norms or ideals.
Repurposing AI: A Review of Stephanie Dinkins at Stamps Gallery While this show is timely for everyone, I consider its setting within a university art gallery and emerging tech hub like the city of Ann Arbor a subversive provocation which Dinkins invites the greater public—including members of the university community—to consider our own positionality to AI and technology.
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